(Courtesy of Flickr User: Nick J Webb)

When it comes to gaming on the go, fans no longer have to choose between their handheld gaming device and a smartphone. These multitasking pieces of technology now offer the advantages of smooth graphics, large game environments, and even decent texting and calling plan. Here is a ‘mobile phone comparison’ for the true gamers that are tired of lugging around multiple devices everywhere they go.

HTC Magic

HTC has come a long way since their days of cheap prepaid phones. This company has become one of the most popular phone manufacturers in the world, and for good reason. Their HTC Magic is a respectable gaming machine that is running off of the Android operating system and Android app market. For those that have owned the HTC G1, the Magic is going to feel quite natural outside of the lack of a dedicated QWERTY keyboard.

The phone has been slimmed down while the screen size has been slightly increased. Between the over-sized screen, 512 MB of RAM, and the upgraded accelerometer, this smartphone handles most games quite well. Problems do arise with the home and navigational buttons at the bottom of the phone though. With the phone tilted horizontally, it is quite easy to accidentally press the Home button, instantly exiting the game. This can become a serious problem for games that require intense button-smashing.

 (Courtesy of Flickr User: animaster)

Xperia Play

When PlayStation announced that is was going to be releasing a gaming phone, many Sony fans looked on with horror. Previous incarnations of gaming phones have fizzled out into the land of rubbish handheld devices. When the first analysts got their hands on this phone, their tune immediately changed. Xperia Play is one of the most comfortable mobile gaming platforms that has ever been created. Taking a page out of Nokia’s book, the Xperia Play flips open to a fully-functional handheld gaming device. The control buttons are what set this phone apart as they are a near identical match to PlayStation’s traditional controls.

PlayStation opted to put their Xperia Play on the Android operating system as well as offering their downloadable games on the Android marketplace. The 1 Ghz Scorpion processor and Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system handles even the most complex and graphic-intensive games superbly. The base model comes with an 8 GB micro memory card that can be upgraded all the way up to 32 GB, enough to store quite a few games. It also comes with The Sims 3, Asphalt Adrenaline 6, Bruce Lee, Star Battalion, and Tetris pre-installed onto the smartphone. For any gamer that is looking to get the most out of their smartphone, the Xperia Play finds itself at the top of the pile.

(Courtesy of Flickr User: marc.flores)

Apple iPhone 4

No ‘mobile phone comparison’ can be made made without mentioning Apple’s iPhone. While the iPhone is one of the most popular mobile phones in the world, it simply was not made for serious gaming. This does not completely exclude it from the list as it does have a handful of redeeming qualities. One of the key features of the smartphone is its overwhelming app market. Coming in at nearly a half-million apps, there are plenty of games to choose, ranging from fantasy RPGs to simple math games. Due to the competition in the app market, many of these games are quite affordable, if not completely free. The community that has been built up around the app market also offers insight into which games are worth the download time and which games will not be opened up a second time. Players are encouraged to rate and review every game they play, and most are painfully honest.

The specs backing the iPhone 4 may not be at the top end of the spectrum, but they will run most games nicely. The base model comes with 16GB of memory, but much of this will be used up by background programs. The standout feature for this phone is the screen which runs at a brilliant 960-by-640-pixel resolution. It is also made of a smudge-resistant material that will save owners the trouble of wiping the screen after every few minutes of gaming. In the end, the iPhone 4 may be one of the most popular phones in the world, but it still was not directed at the dedicated gamer.

 This is a guest article by Ruben Corbo, a writer for the website Mobile Phone Expert, a mobile phone comparison site that will assist you in getting the best deals and plans on your mobile phones.

Test your mobile Phone at TestFreaks!

No company has quite mastered the power of the rumor like the technology titan Apple. They have built a wildly zealous customer base and keep them continually on their toes with constant updates and release dates. Their most recent platform, the iPhone 5, has been built up for almost an entire year with rumors flying coming in from manufacturers around the world. For iPhone fanatics, there is finally some good news as Sprint announces they will be carrying the newest iPhone when it is released.

The original figures given by Apple hovered near a September 2011 release date for their iPhone 5, but this has been pushed back and forth as early as April 2011 and as late as February 2012. Thanks to Sprint’s press release, which claimed they will be carrying the next iPhone, late September seems to be a firm time frame for the iPhone 5.

There have even been rumors over the name of the iPhone 5, some claiming that it will in fact be the iPhone 4S, but there are a few features that fans will be able to look forward to. A Korean technology company has begun producing millions of flash drives for the next generation of iPhone, which means that owners will be treated with a staggering 8GB memory. The screens that have been reportedly been ordered from Southeast Asia are also much larger than the traditional iPhone 4 screens.

The question that is still on everyone’s mind is the battle over 4G. As the iPhone market sat firmly in the hands of AT&T, there was very little possibility of full 4G coverage for the iPhone 5. Luckily, as this new incarnation has transitioned into the realm of Verizon, and finally Sprint, the opportunity for 4G coverage is better than ever.

While Android remains the most widely used operating system, the iPhone takes the lead as the most popular phone on the market. For the countless fans that have been waiting since all the way back in 2010, it seems that the time for the iPhone 5 has finally arrived.

The HTC Evo View 4G was recently released in June of 2011, and it is the first tablet from Sprint to feature 4G support. Sprint current has a great 4G network called WiMax, so the Evo View should running very smoothly on the network. The major announcement is that the Evo View will be the first tablet on the market to feature built-in Netflix support. This makes it only the 10th Android device to have support for Netflix, nine Android smart phones also support Netflix.

While many view the other devices as too slow to run Netflix, this is not true. According to Netflix, they have had trouble fragmenting their service for other devices. The extra cost and time have not been worth the trouble. Improving sales and popularity of tablets means that the HTC Evo View 4G will not be the only tablet with Netflix in the near future. While the tablet supports Netflix, it comes with a downgraded version of Android operating system 2.3 instead of the new 3.0 system.

The device features a 7 inch screen which is rather small compared to all of the 10 inch screen tablets on the market. The screen is high quality and very durable with a great high definition picture. The HTC Evo View 4G is price at $399 for a 32 GB model. While this is a reasonable price for the features, the Evo View will also require a $35 a month plan from Sprint for 4G support. The tablet plan comes with unlimited 4G data and 3GB of 3G data use. Using the GPS system on the Evo View will also cost another $10 a month. The HTC Evo View 4G is a quality tablet, but unless you really want Netflix on your tablet there are better tablets for the price.

With that said, the Android myTouch 3G and Motorola Droid were also first-generation hadsets with U.S.-only launches, and both had sales much stronger than the Nexus One.  The myTouch 3G sold over 60,000 in its first week, while the Motorola Droid sold over 250,000 units.

Nexus One was outsold three times by the myTouch 3G, 12 times by the Droid, and 80 times by the iPhone 3GS, Flurry noted there are key differences.  The Motorola Droid debuted with a $100 million marketing campaign, and even the myTouch 3G was heavily promoted on television by carrier T-Mobile.  By comparison, Google’s device launched after the holiday season and is marketing and selling the device through its own ‘Monster’ Web site.

Analysis noted that “While Google, avoided channel conflict with T-Mobile, it appears to have set the direct-to-consumer price for the handset at over $500 dollars, the high price combined with the fact that the device is only considered an ‘evolutionary’ improvement over previous Android devices, indicates that Google did not take the neccesary steps to maximize first week sales,”.
“Perhaps one would consider that among the most expensive costs associated with the launch -enough marketing- has not been incurred, and could have been applied to lowering the direct-to-consumer price.”

The difference on this device from the Droid is that the Backflip has its keypad in the back, which folds out rather than sliding out.

The smart phone also features the Motorola’s, MotoBlur software, a platform that is designed to integrate social networking and other communications features easily for the user. MotoBlur is featured on the Cliq but not on the Droid.

Motorola’s co-CEO, Sanjay Jha who leads the handset business, said the company plans to launch the device in the first quarter of this year, but could not give a specific launch date, carrier partner or price on the device.

AT&T had press conference earlier in the day, and said it planned to launch new Android phones this year, and had a picture of the Backflip.

The device apparently runs Android, and there’s speculation that it’s a musical-themed gadget since there are some decidedly note-like icons up near the top of the image.  Of course, given the fact that there are exposure trails from most of the on-screen images, it’s entirely possible that those “notes” are in fact simply circular, with camera shake creating the hooked tails.

Either way, it’s seemingly bigger than other Android touchscreen devices we’ve seen previously, and we’ll always welcome a new entrant to the tablet/e-reader sphere.  Anybody have any idea what this mysterious gadget might be?

Reports are coming in that Samsung will be moving away from Windows Mobile in its handsets and moving towards using Android. According to analyst Greg Noh from HMC Investment Securities Samsung will move from 80% Windows Mobile usage to 50% in 2010.

That percentage is said to be decreased further in coming years until only 20% of Samsung’s devices use Windows Mobile by 2012. The move is seen as a signal by some that more and more handset makers are moving away from Windows Mobile towards Google’s open source Android OS.

As we mentioned in our unboxing and initial hands-on article last week, the Tattoo hardware feels a lot like that of its entry-level Windows Phone counterpart, the HTC Touch2. Measuring 106 x 55.2 x 14 mm and weighing a scan 113g, it’s lightweight and makes a minimal dent in your pocket. Up front there’s a 2.8-inch 240 x 320 resistive touchscreen, while inside there’s a 3.2-megapixel fixed focus camera, dualband HSDPA (900/2100MHz) supporting up to 7.2Mbps downlinks and 384kbps uplinks, quadband GSM and both WiFi b/g and Bluetooth 2.0. There’s also a true GPS receiver, a standard 3.5mm headphone jack and HTC’s ExtUSB connector which is compatible with mini-USB.

That connectivity is roughly on a par with HTC’s more advanced Android devices, and leaves the Tattoo in no shortage of spec sheet prowess, at least. In the hand, though, it’s a less impressive experience. While the plastics are solid and creak-free, the display lacks the brightness and vivid colors of, say, the Hero; it also shows a greenish tint, though that’s only particularly noticeable when you have both handsets next to each other. The drop in resolution – most Android devices have used HVGA rather than QVGA panels so far – is disguised to some extent by the smaller panel, but there’s definitely less desktop space to fill with HTC and Android icons and widgets.

Still, the resistive panel is reasonably responsive to finger-touch, though requires a firmer press than we’re used to. HTC’s excellent auto-correction comes to the rescue of the on-screen keyboard; while we were obviously making several mistakes in each tapped-out sentence, the Tattoo deciphered our intent with a surprising degree of accuracy. Flipping the phone to the left automatically rotates the Tattoo into landscape orientation, making it surprisingly good for two-thumb typing. HTC have replaced the trackball with a simpler D-pad, the narrow raised edge of which hides the directional buttons with a large center-select. It’s not quite as useful as the trackball (and doesn’t light up) but it’s an acceptable substitute. We found ourself missing the multitouch of the Hero in the browser, where it’s a return to the floating zoom buttons, but since nobody has bothered adding pinch-zoom to Google Maps the experience there is little different.

Android 1.6 brings with it a few notable changes, the most obvious of which is the universal search bar that can pull up results from all through the system. A single click of the hardware search button triggers a search box for the currently active app; a second click searches the entire phone. The new OS version also brings with it the latest build of the Android Market, Google’s download store. Content available for the Tattoo is markedly different – more specifically, there’s less of it – from the Market experience on other Android handsets, because developers have to bring their apps up to speed with the smaller display size. Up until Android 1.5 only HVGA panels have been natively supported, but that all changes in 1.6; unfortunately, third-party apps don’t automatically accommodate to the new displays, so it might be a while before the Tattoo gets the same range of software as the G1, Magic and Hero now enjoy.

In use, though, the Tattoo is reasonably speedy, with its Qualcomm MSM7225 528MHz chipset keeping things moving. It won’t win any awards for speed, but neither does it demonstrate the lag many complained about with the initial Hero release. Onboard memory is limited to 512MB ROM and 256MB RAM, but there’s a microSD card slot (under the battery cover, but not under the battery) to expand that; you still can’t install apps to a memory card in Android, however, so pick your software wisely. As for the battery itself, HTC rate the 1,100mAh pack for up to 342 minutes WCDMA talkative or 520hrs standby; with careful use we eked out a couple of days from a full charge, but like most smartphones we’re playing with lately you’ll likely be recharging every night.

The Tattoo’s 3.2-megapixel camera isn’t its strongest feature, though like with the HTC Touch2 the absence of autofocus does significantly reduce delay between pressing to take a shot and the image being captured. Indoors, you’ll need good, balanced lighting for best results (and even then stills are average), while outdoor shots fair a little better. Low-light is pretty much a no-go, either for stills or video, though once you’ve taken them it’s an easy matter to upload to YouTube, Picassa, Facebook or Flickr.

As a phone, voice call quality is decent. We noticed a little echo at times, and the speakerphone isn’t as crisp at high-volumes as on other recent HTC devices, but it’ll do in a pinch. HTC Sense neatly pulls in Facebook profile photos for those contacts you’ve linked in the Tattoo’s address book, and shows them whenever there’s an incoming or outgoing call.

The HTC Tattoo, then, is serviceable but not especially exciting, lacking the sparkle or distinct design of the Hero. What will make the difference is pricing; in the UK, carrier Orange are currently offering the Hero free on 18 month contracts of around £35 ($57) or above, while the Tattoo Ink (as they call the new smartphone) is free on a mere £20 ($33) contract. When the Tattoo begins to show up on prepaid plans, we’d expect it to be reasonably affordable contract-free too. HTC are hoping to pull some favor among those who like to customize their phones, with interchangeable front and back covers and a website where you can create your own.

While the first handful of Android devices were tasked with showing the platform’s high-end potential, the HTC Tattoo – like the Huawei Pulse – now fleshes out the budget end of the market. That fits in perfectly with Google’s initial goal for Android, a free OS that makes cheap phones cheaper but that’s also capable enough for flagship devices. Feature-phones watch out: Android is gunning for you now.

MocoNews reports that Dell talked about subjects other than smartphones too. According to Dell unless people are concerned with power or price notebooks are where most computer sales are made. Dell also says he doesn’t see the netbook getting very big. I wonder if he has read the latest sales reports.

Perhaps that netbook bit is just wishful thinking on his part. Dell figures netbooks will level off at 12 to 15% of the computer market and doesn’t see it getting any higher than that. Talking about smartphones, Dell said, “There are some other open platforms that are emerging that are similar to other businesses we participate in.”

Up front there’s a 4-inch 852 x 480 capacitive touchscreen, while under the hood lurks both dualband HSPA, WiFi b/g and GPS.  Full specifications for the handset were previewed by a prematurely posted Expansys product listing, though right now there’s nothing approaching official confirmation from Sony Ericsson themselves.

What’s not on show from this snapshot is the distinctive UI that Sony Ericsson are tipped to have included on the smartphone, back when we knew it under the codename “Rachel”.  That UI – which you can see in a leaked video demo after the cut – is expected to replace the standard Android interface perhaps even more fully than HTC Sense does on the HTC Hero.  The XPERIA X3 is expected to arrive on the market in January 2010.